UJA Holds Its First LGBTQ Conference

“I’ve turned gray waiting for UJA to make this conference,” said Shelly Weiss, a longtime LGBTQ activist. She was referring to UJA-Federation of New York’s first-ever conference focused on the Jewish gay, lesbian, transgender and queer community, which took place last month at the charity’s headquarters on East 59th Street. …

Gabriel Blau, executive director of the Family Equality Council, a national organization that represents 3 million LGBTQ adults and their 6 million children, believes the change Klein and Ladin talked about must start from within. “UJA-Federation is going to be a different place after today,” said Blau, who is himself a “proud gay father.” He referred to the change as “queering the building.”

“The honesty with which people have been sharing and asking questions will have an impact,” he said.